Lagos: Council warns against denigrating late Sarkin Hausawa

The controversy over the installation of new Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos generated more reaction on Wednesday as the Arewa Council of Chiefs in Lagos condemned the statement credited to Mr. Suleiman Bala Abdullahi allegedly casting aspersions on the late Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos.

Abdullahi had earlier issued a statement rejecting the installation of Alhaji Ali Kabir Garba as Sarkin Hausa, describing it as illegal as the Arewa Community has an existing Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos in the person of Alhaji Aminu Idris Yaro.

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But Alhaji Ahmed Danbatta, Secretary, Arewa Council of Chiefs, Lagos said the coined “Lagos State Arewa Council of Chiefs” under whose banner Abdullahi issued the statement “is a strange creation that seeks to fight the late Sarkin Hausawa in death, what they could not do when he was alive.”

He urged the public to disregard the statement, even as he said this is the time of mourning.

The former Sarkin Hausawa, Alhaji Sani Muhammed Kabir died last Thursday.

But Danbatta, in the statement, said: “Our response is solely to appeal to those behind this write-up of the need to maintain calm especially during this mourning period. We noted the use of ‘Lagos State Arewa Council of Chiefs’ as against ‘Lagos State Council of Arewa Chiefs’ that all Lagosians are aware of as we urge vigilance so as not to be deceived by the mischievous re-ordering of words.”